Putin orders to amplify textbooks with information about Crimea's role

(QHA) -

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to amplify school textbooks on history with the information about the role of Crimea in the history of Russian Empire, USSR and modern Russia.

The order was posted on the Kremlin's official website with a note that it must be completed by Aug. 15.

Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in March following all-Crimean referendum.

Initially, Putin sought the development by February 2013 of a state textbook that would reconcile polarized opinions about Russia's past and offer a cohesive but moderate narrative of the country's development. Putin wanted the book to be devoid of "internal contradictions and ambiguities."

The initiative later evolved from one of drafting a new textbook to one of promulgating concepts and guidelines to which all new history textbooks would be required to conform.